Sacred locuses and their worship in the tradition of the don Cossacks

Abstract

The direct connection of this system with the military way of life of the Cossacks and the principles of the Cossack brotherhood is shown. As the main sacred locus, the Cossacks revered the "circle" (the central part of the town, where general meetings of Cossack warriors were held). He was the main symbol of the Cossack community and the equality of all its members. The peripheral holy places included burial mounds, lonely trees and water sources, mass graves, as well as the locations of old towns where funeral feasts were held. The cult of warriors-ancestors formed the basis of the veneration of all the holy places on the Don in the early period of Cossack history, including those associated with the Christian tradition. At the same time, holy places were associated here not only with ancestors, but also with military glory and Christian patron saints of warriors and were subsequently included in the structure of the most important holidays of the calendar year. Natural and artificial (man-made) sacred places were perceived by the bearers of the tradition as a kind of "seams", exits to the "other world". The system of sacred loci was lined up not only horizontally, but also vertically, as a result of which a close (and most importantly, regulated) connection was established between the living and the dead, in general, the spiritual connection of the Cossack communities with the sacred world. During that period of development of the Cossacks, when it became an estate within the class system of the Russian Empire, the system of revered "holy places' also expanded significantly. Along with the former, others began to be worshiped (cemeteries, churches, wells and springs). In addition, the former shrines found their place in the expanded Cossack rituals, and also included female revered places.